Another view of St. Stan parish

Another view of St. Stan parish

It has been somewhat dis- heartening to see the stories on the news and read the recent articles in the paper relative to the discontinuance of the 9 a.m. Polish Mass on Sunday mornings at St. Stanislaus.

This was not an easy decision for Father Neroda, and contrary to the beliefs of some of the self-absorbed individuals and organizations from within the Youngstown area that have their own agenda and apparently believe they can be spokespersons for our church, he is not solely responsible for what is transpiring. There were many things taken into consideration before this decision was reached, i.e. Mass attendance (which at this particular mass averaged between 25 to 30 people on a good Sunday), as well as parishioner support, cooperation and participation in various church functions, activities and organizations.

In reality, these people should be thanking Father Neroda for being able to maintain the “status quo” at the parish for the past 30 years. He is not a well man, and being 80 years old he needs to cut back on some of his daily activities and people need to start to understand this.

Even though this Mass is being discontinued, he is allowing the Polish contingent to continue to have Polish music at the fourth Sunday of every month and fifth Sunday, if there is one in particular month, as well as the midnight mass on Christmas Eve and the Easter Sunrise service, in addition to any Polish holidays or special events.

Before the final decision was made, Father met with the leaders of the diocese, attended many meetings and workshops relative to the priest shortage, and met with parish council and his personal physicians, all of whom advised him to cut back his schedule.

At this point in time we need everyone to realize that abandoning your church is not the solution. As a parish we are in trouble and we need all of our parishioners to step up, take some responsibility and face reality, that change is inevitable. Threatening to run away to another church or even another religion or boycotting activities here will only serve to speed up ultimate closing of St. Stanislaus Church. Now is the time to show the diocese and the people of Youngstown just how vibrant this church can be.

William T. Jones, Youngstown

The writer is Parish Council President of St. Stanislaus Church.

Dealing with job uncertainty

Some devour a pint of ice cream with a side of chocolate bars, or pound several shots of whatever they can get their hands on, or yell and scream. There are many different ways to deal with emotions during a tough time in your life. I’ve found it therapeutic to write a letter like this one, a letter that strangers will read.

I discovered this after writing a letter that was printed in this space last month. It was about losing my job after thinking it could never happen to me. I was then about a month into my first experience with unemployment. I was disappointed that my 13- year career had come to sudden stop, but I wasn’t discouraged. I was confident that my education and experience would be appealing to other companies in my industry. But I soon came to realize that these other companies were facing the same financial realities as the company that eliminated my position.

I marched on and found an opportunity that I felt was a perfect fit for me and the hiring company. I submitted my cover letter and resume, but never heard back. So I called the company and, despite my willingness to accept a lower salary, was told they were looking for someone with less experience. Ouch.

Becoming a little discouraged I began to search for positions outside my field. I felt my skills could easily transfer to a number of different types of careers. Unfortunately, I appear to be the only one that feels I have transferable skills. Ugh.

Since I was having trouble finding work in my own field and other fields weren’t biting I embraced the likelihood of underemployment. So I started sending out resumes like there was no tomorrow. Then one day I received an e-mail concerning a position I applied for online the previous night. I thought it was so quick that they must be impressed with something they read. I opened the e-mail and found out that I am not qualified to unload trucks on the night shift because I don’t have at least one year of retail experience. No disrespect to those who unload trucks on the night shift, but really?

In the matter of a couple months I’ve gone from having a company car, working from home, and earning a comfortable living, to having too much/little experience and nontransferable skills.

While I know these experiences aren’t exclusive to me, discouragement is still creeping in. So I humbly continue my search and write another letter in hopes that I feel just a little bit better.

Bill Hegarty, Poland

Port Authority member responds

A letter from Atty. John Mas- ternick appeared in the Dec. 26 Vindicator berating and complaining about my being a member of the Western Reserve Port Authority. It seems that Mr. Masternick was really responding to an article written by Vindicator reporter Ed Runyan, on which I believe Mr. Runyan did an excellent job.

The mismanagement of airport affairs along with Mr. Masternick’s concern for his own economic benefit during his tenure as board chairman will be public record soon enough for my own vindication. I doubt that Mr. Masternick will be writing any letters then, and if he does, maybe he will then tell the truth about his involvement in another land deal involving the Port Authority and his fellow board member Scott Lewis.

The last bit of information I would pass on to my former colleague is that the “failing blimp project” he referred to that I tried to bring to the Youngstown Warren regional Airport is doing well and is part of the Toledo Port Authority. Another missed opportunity that occurred on Masternick’s watch because it didn’t serve his plan or his ego.

And for the record, I have never proposed that board members be paid or belong to PERS. I have never proposed anyone for the position of executive director, but I did vote against Mr. Masternick’s group paying $70,000 to a Chicago company to find a women from Cleveland to fill the job.

Should Mr. Masternick want to continue this debate, I would be more than happy to do so in any public forum he might choose.

Don L. Hanni III, Youngstown

Jobs should be first priority

I think it’s agreed that we need jobs in the United States of America. I certainly know that is true. I also know that we certainly are not united: Everybody hates somebody in our citizenry. I also know that all governments, from the smallest to the outlandish monster of a federal government, are out of control.

Our federal government is not dealing with jobs, and the trade agreements that are ruining our country because of more pressing issues like gays in the military, the Dream Act and guest worker programs, to allow fronts for drug dealers easy border crossings.

None of the real problems will be cured until the legal system stops protecting dealers of illegal drugs properly, the present trade agreements are scrapped and people unite on a common front.

Government will not do anything to help the common people, or as the BP big shot said, the “small people.” We have to do it ourselves. A simple solution is to buy American made products only and do without if it’s not American. When enough imported stuff sits on the shelves, the giant retailers will get the message. If they don’t, who cares? They certainly do not care about keeping Americans working. Their goal is increasing their bottom line.

Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Well, I believe the enemy is winning because we are being stupid.

Joseph P. Hilko, Hermitage